Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Paul Revington plans to use at least 25 players as Ireland’s men return to their international schedule after a brief summer break as the build-up to 2011’s European championships ramps up with a four-game series against Malaysia from August 18 to 22.

The coach had named four separate groups of 15 players for each of the four-game series which precedes a five-nations tournament in Paris a week later with the second goalkeeper slot to be confirmed for each panel at this point.

John Jermyn (right) - the Ireland selection's current top-scorer since Stephen Butler's retirement - returns after a summer sabbatical from the panel as does Adam Pritchard who missed out on the Celtic Cup and mid-summer series against France but David Hobbs has yet to return to the setup.

Brian Doherty (below, left) has a chance to continue his 100pc scoring record in the national jersey after three goals in three 2009 Celtic Cup ties – as well as a string of netbusters for the U-21 selection last month

They face a side with plenty of motivation with their coach Stephen van Huizen charged with delivering medals from the upcoming Commonwealth Games and the Asian Games – the latter offering potential Olympic places.

“Gold has always been our target [in these tournaments], and it will be the same for the other teams in the Asian Games as well. Our highest achievement in the Asian Games to date is bronze and we will again have to beat higher ranked teams like South Korea, Pakistan and India to achieve the set target.

“And if we fail, we will have to go through a qualifier where there will again be a higher ranked team than us to beat.

“In short, we are working towards an Asian Games gold, but it will not be easy,” said Van Huizen.